US oil major Chevron has detailed how innovation is helping it to achieve record oil production with a lower carbon intensity, thanks to innovation in its extraction techniques.
The company recently announced its oil and gas production had reached 3.1 million barrels of oil-equivalent per day, which is a new record.
The chief financial officer of Chevron, Pierre Breber, said about this:
“Last year, we produced more oil and gas than any other year in the company’s history, including a record number of liquefied natural gas cargoes out of Australia. We expect 2024 production to be higher—again—by 4% to 7%.”
Driving the company’s increased production was 14% growth in US production alone and 10% growth in the Permian Basin in particular, where the carbon intensity of produced oil and gas is almost a third of the average for the global industry.
Chevron, which also makes Texaco grease and lubricant products, partly credits this to the field being relatively mature, and having plenty of takeaway capacity to get oil and gas efficiently. It is also making changes to its facility designs to lower carbon emissions further, such as installing compressor stations powered by electricity and using solar plants to supplement grid electricity. It has also been transitioning drilling rigs and other equipment away from diesel to cleaner fuels, like electricity and natural gas.
Chevron says that the demand for energy will likely hit a new record high this year, so it plans to invest around $9.3 billion to boost its production in the US further.
